Ankle Injury

[Jlkoeppe]

I injury my right ankle in a football game two months ago. I was grabbed from behind by the shoulder pads and the player landed on my calf and pinned it to the ground. As we slid into the sidelines my ankle was turned outwards and I felt a lot of popping up and down the lateral side of my shin from my ankle up to about 6 or 7 inches above my ankle. When I sat up from the whole thing my ankle was still turned outwards and I could not move it. I couldn't place any weight on it. Eventually, I made it back to my sidelines with the help of some teammates and when I skimmed my foot against the ground it popped again and I could move my ankle again. It wasn't anymore painful then it already was when it popped.
When I visited the doctor a couple days later I had the use of crutches, and the doctor was almost no help. She took x rays and told me it wasn't broken and gave me a brace but still didn't give me the diagnosis, no information on how long it'll take to heal or anything. She just told me to come back in two weeks. When  I came back I was still using crutches. That doctor told me I might have torn the membrane inbetween my fibia and tibia, and told me to use the crutches for another two weeks. I have not gone back to the doctor's since.
It's been two months since my injury and I still have a lot of pain just above my acheilies tendon. Side to side movement and downward pushing with my foot hurts some of the lateral side of my ankle and around the acheilies. I still have some pretty noticable swelling on the lateral side of my ankle as well. I can walk but after a couple minutes the pain becomes even more painful.
Could anyone enlighten me with some estimated recovery times, treatments, maybe even a better diagnosis of the injury? Is surgery a maybe?
Thanks :)

[Sarajmt]

I hope they give you the answers you need. No one should live in pain.  Good luck and keep us updated.
Sara

[Jlkoeppe]

Thank you people, I'm hoping to schedule another doctor's visit this week sometime.

[Sarajmt]

I'd like to add that the format I used for RICE is the same the Tuckamore used in an earlier post.  I'm unable to find that post at this time but apparently our RICE differs.  But the formatting is the same as Tuckamore's.  This is also the formatting I've seen used on pamphlets and how it's been presented in Red Cross first aid courses that I've attended.  I was a flight attendant for many years and was trained extensively in first aid.  Anyway, this is part of the post I made.  Again, Tuckamore used this formatting earlier and it jogged my memory of it.
"Remember RICE for most all sports injuries:
R:  Rest
I:   Ice
C:  Compression
E:  Elevation "

Apologies to Tuckamore for any problems I may have caused.

Sara

[Tuckamore]

Hello and Welcome to the Pain Mangement Forum. I am sorry to hear about your painful injury.

You need a diagnosis before you can do anything else or make decisions as to what options may be available.

An x-ray is not an effective tool to determine if you have torn muscles, ligaments or tendons. An MRI should have been done at the two week period when there was little improvement.

You are past RICE treatment. This is used initially for injuries but after two months there should be better options as directed by a Sports Medicine Physician.  It sounds like you have a significant injury that will require the treatment of a specialist. I encourage you to get a clinical evaluation asap. Let untreated this could become chronic so please see a Sports Medicine Physician.

Please let us know how you are doing. I will look forward to your updates.

Take Care,
~Tuck

[JHuxlet]

P.S. Arrange to see a physio too always a good move..

[JHuxlet]

Sorry to hear you are having problems. I would re post this in the orthopedic community, it has a Doctor on it who may be able to help. It sounds like you have damaged the tendons/ligaments and could have dislocated it too. As suggested go and see an orthopedic specialist uregnetly. Ankles take a long time to heal and rest is very important. You wnat to make sure this gets fixed properly or else you may well end up with life long problems.

Good luck!

[Sarajmt]

I'd recommend you see an orthopedic doctor who specializes in sports medicine.  In the meantime, keep it elevated and try some ice on your ankle.  If you can tolerate Ibuprofen and have taken it before with no problems, you might want to try that.  Do not take it on an empty stomach.  Remember RICE for most all sports injuries:
R:  Rest
I:   Ice
C:  Compression
E:  Elevation

But do see an orthopedist.  It would seem that you need another checkup. Everything may be fine.  My son dropped a weight (270lbs) bar on his knee.  That was during football season.  He has done physical therapy, had an MRI and is still having some pain.  So it does take a little time.  Don't overdo and see the orthopedist.

Take care.  I hope someone else comes on. We're all patients ourselves but we some have some smart people here.  I'm sure one of them will answer later.

Sara